Usher Engages In A Little Gender-Bending Action

ONE-LISTEN VERDICT: With a musical bed clearly influenced by Prince’s “The Beautiful Ones,” this slow jam from Usher’s upcoming Here I Stand reminded me of that terrible book Porn For Women, in which “beautiful PG photos of hunky men cooking, listening, asking for directions” are accompanied by captions like “I love a clean house!” and “As long as I have two legs to walk on, you’ll never take out the trash.” Here, Usher decides to let his lady friend do all the things that men usually do in the relationship–pay for a date, enjoy breakfast in bed, insist to Usher that the sex isn’t over until she’s satisfied, dammit. The lyrics manage to be both over-the-top and mundane at the same time in many spots, which I guess is Ush’s tribute to married-life copulation. (My particular favorite is the line where he talks about how his paramour will “order Chinese food right before you do me.”) But wait, what’s this at the end, when Usher closes out the song with a promise that part two will have Usher “put it on your ass”?! I guess all that Folgers-making does come with a price.